Flanged closure cap for resiliently yieldable plastic container



July 3, 1962 R. E. BAUER ETAL 3,042,273

FLANGED CLOSURE CAP FOR RESILIENTLY YIELDABLE PLASTIC CONTAINER Filed March 30, 1959 INVENTORS ROBERT E. BAUER WILLIAM J. LAWRENCEIJLZ ROBERT CALVERT ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,042,273 FLANGED CLOSURE CAP FOR RESILIENTLY YIELDABLE PLASTIC CONTAINER Robert E. Bauer, Flourtown, Pa., and William J. Lawrence, Jr., Clifton, N.J., assignors to The Borden Company, New York, N .Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Mar. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 802,930

1 Claim. (Cl. 222548) This invention relates to a container with a circular, pressure deformable mouth, a yieldable, rotatable cap closing the mouth, and means for avoiding deformation of the mouth as the cap is rotated with lateral pressure on the side ofthe cap. The invention is particularly useful as a shaker for grated cheese or other particulate material and will be illustrated by description in connection with such use.

The conventional cheese shaker includes a can with a top provided with a series of radially spaced openings and a cap rotatable over the said top and provided with holes which, at certain positions of rotation of the cap, register with the said openings. Inverting and shaking such can causes sprinkling of the contents through the registering openings.

In the case of grated cheese, penetration of moisture through the closing means is objectionable. The cheese, in the conventional container with cap fitting loosely over the top, may lose moisture, from the original and desired content of around 12%14%, down to or so in a dry atmosphere. When exposed to a humid atmosphere, on the other hand, the cheese absorbs moisture which, if it reaches an amount much above 15%, promotes growth of mold.

When it is attempted to make a container of plastic material of suflicient thinness to be competitive in cost with metal cans, the means to give a moisture-tight fit increase the difliculty of rotation of the cap without distortion of shape of the thin plastic, when the container is in use for dispensing the cheese.

Our invention provides a container that may be made of thin, economical plastic construction, with dependable manual turning of the cap by hand pressure and without such flattening of the relatively thin plastic container to oblong shape as would, if occurring, interfere with rotation of the cap therearound.

Briefly stated the invention comprises a container that at its top or mouth is circular in cross section and has a cap provided with a part rotatably engaging this top and a gripping member which, at the position of application of the hand pressure for turning, is out of contact with the said part. In the preferred embodiment, the said part and member are two concentric, spaced, downwardly extending annular flanges.

With such construction the gripping member, being resilient and somewhat yieldable under hand pressure, is displaceable towards the inner flange without increasing substantially the tightness of the friction fit of this inner flange against the sidewall of the container and without substantial deformation of the normally circular cross section of the top of the container.

The invention will be illustrated by description in connection with the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of our improved container partly broken away for clearness of illustration.

FIG. 2 is a section on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section on a larger scale of part of the structure shown in FIG. 2.

Parts not shown in detail are conventional.

The container has sidewall 10, bottom 11, and cap 12. The cap has an inner, downwardly extending, annular flange 16 provided at its lower extremity with an inward- 1y extending head 18 engaged in a groove of the sidewall 10. The top cap 12 is provided with holes 20 which, as the cap is rotated, are brought into registration with openings 24 of equal size and equal angular spacing in the container closing element 26.

The gripping member 28 is in the form of an outer, downwardly extending flange concentric with and spaced from the flange 16 so as to define therewith a narrow an: nular space. The tops of the inner and outer flanges are joined by connection 30 and both flanges at their top edges are united to the side of the upper horizontal part 25 of the cap.

As to materials of construction, we require a resiliently yieldable but reasonably stifl' material. Examples of suitable plastics that illustrate the resiliency and moderate stifiness required are linear (isotactic) polyethylene and polypropylene. Styrene and urea-formaldehyde condensation products in thin form may also be used but are too breakable in use and of stiffness that is unnecessary in our construction. Particularly satisfactory for our purpose is high density polyethylene, sometimes known as linear or isotactic. When hand pressure is applied, as to the gripping member 28 near the lower part thereof, the pressure required for rotation may deform the flange 28 slightly, displacing it towards the bottom of the inner flange 16 where the latter engages the groove portion in the thickened part 36 of the sidewall of the container. The amount of pressure if any transmitted to the flange 16 is insuflicient to cause objectionable overtightening of the said flange against the sidewall of the container. The pressure on 28, normally applied about midway of the side, also does not squeeze the container mouth out of round. It is obvious, as from an examination of FIG. 3, that the outer flange 28 is spaced at all positions thereof from the top 36 of the container and is displaceable theretowards, as by pressure externally applied to the flange 28.

Various thicknesses of the wall, cap and U-shaped double flanged construction may be used, the thickness being larger ordinarily with increasing size of the container maunfactured. For the ordinary household cheese shaker, the plastic may be of thickness about 0.01-0.05 inch and is ordinarily around 0.020.O4.

The parts composing the container may be made in any convenient manner as by molding, the closing element 26 being integral and continuous with the sidewall 10. The bottom 11 is united to the sidewall adhering the edge 32 in thickened part 34 provided by any conventional, dependable non-toxic adhesive (not shown).

The cap also may be molded.

All moldings are made by technique usual for like parts.

The operation of the container will be largely evident from the description that has been given.

The grated cheese 13, such as grated American, Italian Parmesan, or Romano, is introduced as through the openings 24. The cap 12 is then applied and rotated, by grip on the knurled edge of flange 28, to the position in which the holes 20 and 24 are completely out of registration.

At the time of use, the consumer places the hand around flange 28, squeezes sufliciently to obtain a firm hold, and then rotates the flange and, with it the rest of the cap, until registration of the holes 20 and 24 results. Then the contents of the container are shaken from the registering holes in amount desired.

Because of the construction shown, for preventing transmission of the hand pressure on 28 inwardly to other parts, the contact of the parts 25 and 26 may be tightened by any suitable means (not shown) and the rotation through flange 28 still obtained without the application of substantial pressure to the inner flange 16, particularly not at the bead portion 18. Furthermore the resilient yieldability of the lower part of the annular flange 28, under hand pressure, permits some moderate deformation of the flange under the hand pressure, with an improvement of the holding by the hand and turning thereby, all without objectionable deformation of the mouth of the container from the normally round shape.

It is to be understood that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for. the purposes of illustration which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

In a resiliently yieldable plastic container, for grated eheese and other particulate material, having a body of cross section that is circular at the top, a sidewall, an upper closing element extending over the said top and provided with at least one opening for delivery of said material therethrough, and a resiliently yieldable plastic closing cap rotatably mounted on the body, the improvement comprising a flat portion of the cap overlying and in rotational contact with the closing element and provided with at least one hole at a position to be brought into registration with the said opening by rotation of the cap, two annular concentric flanges extending downwardly from said flat portion and in spaced relationship to each other in their downwardly extending parts, and means uniting the two flanges at their upper parts only to the said flat portion of the cap, the inner one of the flanges provided at its lower extremity with an inwardly extending annular bead rotatably engaged in an annular groove of the sidewall, and the outer one of the flanges being constructed of a resiliently yieldable material, so that force sufficient to rotate the closing cap is absorbed by the resiliency of the outer flange without substantial deformation of the normally circular cross section of the top of the container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,764,453 Robb et a1 Sept. 25, 1956 2,765,954 Wohlbier Oct. 9, 1956 2,806,640 Wroblewski Sept. 17, 1857 2,915,227 Quint Dec. 1, 1959 2,943,771 DriScoll July 5, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 881,776 Germany July 2, 1953 

